The Beginning of Friendship
by angstman
Summary: This story explore the time when Alexander and Hephaistion met for the first time and how their friendship developed.
1. Chapter 1

Fic: The beginning of friendship (1/?)  
Author: Angstman  
Beta: Thank you very much my dearest Myr, I love your work very very much. It is so much better than the originalgrin & hug you tightly  
Pairing: Alexander/Hephaistion with Cleitus  
Summary: This story explore the time when Alexander and Hephaistion met for the first time and how their friendship developed.  
Rating/Warning: PG ??  
Author's note: While I do believe in love at first sight, it is hard for me to think that love at first sight was what happened to Alexander and Hephaistion. So, this story is my effort to see how Alexander and Hephaistion's relationship built up when they were small children in Pella.

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Chapter 1: First Encounter

It was midday when I first saw him, the boy from Athens. Never in my entire young life, had I seen a boy more beautiful than him. Most people said that I was also a pretty boy, but I could not compare myself to him. He had eyes like no other. In a way, his face looked boyish enough, but with the touch of feminine beauty that struck me as more fine-looking than most girls I knew in all of Macedon! He was also the favorite pupil of our new teacher, Aristotle. Rumor had it that Aristotle had declined my father's invitation to teach us in Mieza if this boy was not allowed to join the class. My friends and I were excited about our new teacher. We had heard that Aristotle was quite famous in Athens, and that he was taught by the Athenian Master Plato himself, but denying to follow his master's steps regarding myths and believing the goddesses. Aristotle had his own unique thoughts on any matter and we were looking forward to knowing the world outside our small frog pond.

I woke up early that morning to take a glimpse of Aristotle, knowing that he would come to meet my father that day. However, when I arrived, Aristotle had already gone into my father's room. So I planned to wait in the garden. That is where I saw him - a boy around my age surrounded by my father's pages. They were trying to steal something from him, and he wouldn't allow them. He fought against them fiercely. At first, I thought he was plain stupid. Did he really think he could beat those pages whom were both taller and bigger than him? Even though he was not as short as I was, he was still very slim. Surprisingly, he was able to knock two of them down, while others picked up a bat and aimed to hit him. I hate an unfair fight; no one should fight with three bigger guys with a weapon. So I jumped on the third guy and struck him down. The new boy was surprised to see me, as if he didn't expect anyone to show up and help him.

Before we had beaten all of them, I heard my father's voice as he and the new teacher approached us. Aristotle walked along with my father, as he scanned both of us. Then he signaled the offended boy to stand beside him. My father told Aristotle that this would not happen again. "No one in this palace shall harm you or the boy," he proclaimed, and then he told his bodyguard to punish the pages for assaulting the King's new guest. Finally, he asked me to lead the boy to see our doctor. The boy had suffered small bruises and a bleeding split lip.

"Thank you." That was the first sentence he said to me. Pleased, I thought that his voice was soft and pleasant as a melody.

"My name is Hephaistion. Are you Prince Alexander?"

"No one calls me 'prince', Hephaistion. Plain Alexander is fine with me." I knew that I was rude to him, but I was in fact not used to being called Prince Alexander. In Macedonia, it was not the custom to address royalty by their title - only at official occasions. Today was certainly not the case.

"You are very brave to fight with three bigger guys," I flattered him.

"I have many brothers and, since I am the youngest, I have had to learn how to fight with bigger men ever since I can remember. It is advantage to have been the youngest."

"Do you call that advantage?" I laughed and turned our conversation around. "What did they want?"

"What do you mean, Alexander?" Hephaestion asked, looking anywhere else but at me.

"Well, what did they want from you? I saw the pages trying to take something that was yours."

Smiling a tad embarrassed at my attention to this matter, he replied, "Oh, it is a scroll. My father gave it to me on my birthday this year. He knew that I would have to leave my home, so the scroll was the last gift he gave to me. Here! That is - if you want to take a look at it." Handing me the scroll, Hephaistion looked directly at me for the first time with his big innocent blue eyes, and that intense gaze was startling me. Before I could take a better look at the scroll, we had already arrived at the doctor's room, so I guided him inside, said goodbye to him and left. Even though the boy seemed to be nice and sincere enough, I was not allowing myself to seek his friendship from just that first encounter. My mother always warned me against opportunists seeking my friendship because they thought they achieved benefits from being the prince's friend. Trusting the wrong kind of people would be fatal, she said. So I was careful and treated everybody the same from a distance. Only a selected few were lucky enough to call themselves my friend and I had chosen them.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Fic: The beginning of friendship (2/?)

Author: Angstman  
Beta: Thank you very much my dearest **Myr**, I love your work very very much. It is so much better than the originalgrin & hug you tightly

Pairing: Alexander/Hephaistion with Cleitus  
Summary: This story explores the time when Alexander and Hephaistion met for the first time and how their friendship developed.  
Rating/Warning: PG-13  
Author's note: While I do believe in love at first sight, it is hard for me to think that love at first sight was what happened to Alexander and Hephaistion. So, this story is my effort to see how Alexander and Hephaistion's relationship built up when they were young teenagers in Pella.  
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Chapter 2: Turning Event

A few months after Aristotle had become our new teacher, my father finally decided that my classmates and I should continue school in Mieza. For us, it was a whole new adventure, unique even so, because for the first time we would be living without our parents' protection and guidance. However, my mother hated the idea. She said that it was my father's plan to take me away from her. But I longed for the adventures lying ahead and didn't pay her complaints much thought.

On the same day that we left Pella, my mother once more warned me not to trust any of the boys in school. "They are all Phillip's spies," she warned me, "They will turn against you once they have gained your trust; when you are most vulnerable to believe their treacherous 'friendship'." As much as I loathed believing what she taught me, I also couldn't dismiss the grain of truth to her distrustful scheme of things.

When we had arrived at Mieza, we weren't shown to our rooms yet. The custom here was to draw sticks of chance to whom we'd share our rooms with. I preferred no roommate in particular, and in fact did not expect to share a room with anybody. However, Aristotle insisted that every boy got himself a roommate. Me inclusive. When it became my turn, I drew the shortest stick. Looking around for whichever boy carried its match, I found him. He was Hephaistion.

So, the Athenian was going to be my roommate. For some reason that made me feel very uncomfortable. I had never shared a room with anyone before in my life, and of all the boys gathered this morning, Hephaistion was the one I knew the least. Since our first meeting, when Hephaestion had arrived with Aristotle in Pella, I had hardly spoken a sentence with him. Even though he'd tried to talk to me several times both inside and outside the classroom in Pella, I had deliberately avoided him. There were so many reasons why I couldn't trust this boy: Coming from Athens, he wasn't even a real Macedonian. How could I possibly trust him? Though, many times when I was occupied with my own thoughts, I discovered how I took pleasure in observing him. I had become intrigued by the intelligence behind his knowledge and thorough studies in the class. I enjoyed watching his confidence and listening to his pleasant Athenian accent when he responded to Aristotle's questions. I found his eyes were exceptionally bright and shiny when Aristotle brought us into his world of logic and reason – a terminology that he called science. 

Some of my classmates had become better acquainted with Hephaistion than I during his short stay in Pella; one of them was Cleitus, my father's new favorite. Cleitus was ten years older than me, and I had known him ever since I was a toddler. He was the older brother of my nursemaid. At the time, Cleitus had participated in several of my father's campaigns, and nevertheless, the seasoned warrior had been assigned to accompany our class to Mieza. I suppose my father wanted him to guard us, but I doubted Cleitus enjoyed his task of babysitting big lads like us. However, he had never complained about it (at least not to me). He even seemed to take pleasure in teaching us how to wrestle in the gymnasium - especially when he could pick Hephaistion as an opponent. Only a few boys in the class could fight against Cleitus but no one was strong enough to beat him. At one occasion, Cassander almost defeated Cleitus when he tricked the older man into drinking unwatered, strong wine before practice, but with strength and endurance, Cleitus had not been defeated. We had to be a lot bigger and stronger to compete with Cleitus. The funny thing was - I think Cleitus was in love. He was acting so weird and funny around Hephaistion – as a matter of fact, we would usually find Cleitus in a close range of Hephaistion. He would often gift the boy with fruits, and even brought Hephaistion to ride with him from time to time, since Hephaistion did not have his own horse. Only a few of us had. I'm not sure that Hephaistion had no knowledge of certain social Macedonian customs. Especially the one Cleitus was interested in. The older man was going to ask Hephaestion to be his eromenos, and my soon-to-be-roommate would have no idea what that kind of honour entailed. I cannot deny that Cleitus made a great choice if Hephaestion accepted his offer. The Athenian was one of finest looking boys in school; he had a very pleasant accent, and I thought the way he handled himself physically in every aspect was almost royal. But mostly I thought Hephaistion's eyes and face were so unsettling different, so impossibly fascinating that had he worn a dress you might not even notice he wasn't a girl.

Our first night together was uneventful. Hephaistion was very quiet. He unpacked his luggage and went to bed. We hardly spoke to each other; I don't think it was due to him being shy, it was more related to fatigueness from our long ride. Also, we weren't used to having a conversation in the first place so I suppose neither of us knew how to start one, just because we had become roommates. Falling asleep didn't take long, either. As soon as my head touched the pillow I felt my dreams take over consciousness.

The next morning, when I awoke, I found myself discretely looking at Hephaistion again. I had studying his sun kissed skin and let my eyes gazing at a face the gods themselves must have designed. The early morning light shone through the window making his skin glow even more alluringly. His hair, which usually was a dark blonde, was now rivalling the shimmering sunbeams showing off a range of golden copper shades. And his lips were so pink. Realising the inappropriate praising of Hephaistion's charms, I felt heat rise in my face. So when my schoolmate's bright blue eyes suddenly opened and caught me staring at him, I didn't react right away. I was too engrossed in mapping his features with my eyes. He said nothing during my inspection and that gave me time to notice how his eyes were not only blue but green as well. It might be the reflection of light, a mixture of yellow and blue as Aristotle taught us. When he blinked his eyes and smiled to me, I quickly composed myself and looked away, embarrassed.

"How long have you been awake?" his melodic voice startled me.

"I just woke up," I lied. Truthfully, I didn't know how long I had been awake spending my time staring at my roommate.

"Did you have a good sleep?" I asked.

"Slept like the dead. Even if the Persians had attacked us, I would hardly have stirred in my sleep," Hephaistion joked. Then he changed the subject abruptly, "Would you like to go to the bathhouse?" he suggested, but I declined and told him that I wanted to sleep some more. Our teacher Aristotle did not have any plans for his students this morning anyway. He wanted us to get used to our new school and explore our surroundings before our first real class was launched the next day. After gathering a few things, Hephaistion went to bathe, and I stayed in my bed, trying to stop thinking about how attractive Hephaistion had developed into lately.

After several weeks' studies in Mieza, Hephaistion and I had become more used to each other. We might not have long conversations, yet, since I still couldn't allow myself to trust him. He didn't seem to mind our strange friendship. Not that we were strangers to one another anymore after sleeping in the same room for weeks, but it was fair to say that by now I was used to having him around in the bedroom. Every evening, when we were alone in our room, he would stay on his side of our small, shared table and study scrolls and notes from class. Usually, he would also write a letter to his mother. And I would stay on my side and read my mother's predictably letters; full of poisonous conspiracies against everyone around me - especially my father. I sat wishing I'd had a mother whom I could enjoy writing a letter to everyday like Hephaistion.

Then, one day something occurred that changed my life. The class was off hunting a wild boar that had killed our rabbit farm at school. We were hunting divided into teams, and me, Hephaistion and Cleitus were tracking the boar in the pine forest close to a mountainous area. I heard the distinct noise from an animal behind a large rock, and I decided to follow the sound. The next thing I knew, I was pushed to the ground, and Hephaistion was lying on top of me. It didn't take more than a moment to realise that he was bleeding on me; the metallic tang of blood filled my nostrils and I understood what was happening. Hephaistion was protecting me. He must have seen the lion catching my scent. When the wild animal jumped at me he threw himself between the lion's craws and me. I heard Cleitus shout a warning and, quickly, I sensed the danger approaching, picked up my knife and stabbed the lion when it tried to attack us again. Luckily, I was able to stab the knife directly into the lion's eyes. It died instantly. Cleitus was at our side soon after, and he examined me first because there was so much blood on my chiton. Once I told him that I was not the one who was injured, he quickly looked at Hephaistion who was lying unconscious on the ground. He had lost a lot of blood and looked pale. His left shoulder was ripped open from the encounter with the lion's claws and fresh blood seeped freely. It was a very dangerous wound.

Those who had been close by came to assist us right away, once they'd heard Cleitus' cry for help. They assisted bringing Hephaistion back to the school. Aristotle reacted calmer to the news than I thought he would, considering how much he loved his favorite pupil. He led us to the medical room, and started cleansing Hephaistion's wound at once, thereafter he applied leaves and potions. Then he with drew a small pill, which he called the magic medicine and tried to make Hephaistion swallow it. That night, Aristotle kept Hephaistion in the medication room. He said he wanted to watch over him to ensure that the boy was fine and would recover. I asked my teacher to allow me to stay with Hephaistion, too; I kept saying that it had been my fault that Hephaistion got hurt. If I hadn't displayed such negligence, this would not have happened. However, Aristotle explained to me that this was no one's fault. It was an accident and even I was allowed to experience these tests that life threw at us.

Although it was not me who had been injured that day, the impact of the events nevertheless had worn me out. Aristotle saw that and commanded me to get some rest, promising that I could take care of my rescuer tomorrow when he recovered and returned to our room.

That night, I felt miserable and prayed to the gods not to take Hephaistion away from me. I felt guilty of his condition and was very impressed by his deed that the thought of losing him now terrified me. Ever since we'd met, he had always been so nice and kind to me but I had never reciprocated his kindness like he deserved. Today, he had risked his own life for me - and if he died, I would never get to thank him or even become his friend. Overwhelmed by all this, I cried myself to sleep and hoped that the morning would come very soon, because I couldn't wait to return to Hephaistion's bedside and watch over him.

When I awoke the next day, I hurried to the medication room and found Hephaistion sitting on the bed eating his breakfast. Once he saw me, he smiled at me, and it was the same radiant smile that he gave me the first time we met in Pella. In fact, he smiled smile at me every morning when I woke up. I cursed myself for being too stupid to realize that his smile was the most beautiful, innocent, and genuine one I had ever seen.

"So I see you are alright, Alexander," he said to me in between eating.

"Yes - I'm fine. Thank you Hephaistion. And you? How are you?" I asked shyly, and walked closer to him. Aristotle was also present, and he also acknowledged me with his kind expression. I could tell our teacher hadn't slept all night as he dutifully took care of Hephaistion. He handed me my roommate's breakfast bowl and asked me to help my friend to finish his meal. Eagerly, I accepted to assist Hephaistion, while Aristotle tapped me on the shoulder and left the room.

"I'm better now. My arm feels numb rather than hurt actually. I have no idea what Aristotle gave me but I could not feel my finger." Hephaistion pointed up his finger and again smiled at me. I wondered why he tried to make me feel better, when he was the one who had been wounded. Was it because he knew that I felt guilty and responsible for his accident? I grabbed a hold of his finger and I felt that it was really cold. Automatically, I started rubbing his hand and fingers. As I did this, fast words tumbled uncontrollably out of my mouth.

"Your hand is so cold, Hephaistion. Is this better? Aristotle told me that once you feel better, you can go back to your room. I will move your bed closer to the fireplace so that you can be warmed."

"I think this is the longest conversation you engaged with me since we met, Alexander." His words made me blush and feel shamed of myself.

Hephaistion continued, "Pay no heed to my words, Alexander. Everyone would have done the same in that situation. You don't have to feel like you owe me something. You are the prince! Anyone in my position yesterday would have done the same to protect you." I know he told me the truth, but when he said that he did it because I was "the prince"... well, it saddened me. I had hoped that he had done it because he cared for me; me, "the boy named Alexander".

So I responded, "No, Hephaistion. I doubt that anyone would have done what you did for me. Some might even have wanted to see me eaten by that lion. But you, Hephaistion. You risked your life for me, and I will never forget it. I am in your debt, Hephaistion, and I promise that I will repay you one day."

"You helped me too Alexander," Hephaistion replied, "Don't forget that you are the one who killed that lion. Unfortunately, I couldn't witness your bravery with my own eyes, but Aristotle told me that you stabbed the lion between the eyes when it tried to attack us again." Before we could talk further, other boys came to join us in the medication room. They praised Hephaistion and me for our courageousness and retold about the exciting incidence of yesterday. Everyone seemed happy to see Hephaistion was recovering so well; now they would have a great story to tell for the weeks. Cleitus had come and sat next to Hephaistion. I saw how he occasionally touched Hephaistion's shoulder and forehead to check the wound and his temperature. Finally, Aristotle returned and asked us to leave Hephaistion alone. Even though the wound was healing satisfactory and Hephaistion was feeling better, Aristotle explained that his patient needed plenty of rest. He had lost a lot of blood yesterday. So, we were all went back having breakfast and later attended class without Hephaistion.

That night, Hephaistion was back in our room. Aristotle asked me to check Hephaistion's forehead from time to time that night. He said that, if Hephaistion's temperature rose higher, it would be dangerous, meaning that the wound had become infected. The first two or three days were still critical for injuries like these. I was now assigned by Aristotle to keep an eye on Hephaistion. At first, Cleitus volunteered to nurse Hephaistion. However, 'my patient' insisted that he would like to go back and stay in his room. Cleitus could not argue that the boy should still stay in the sick bed when he felt well enough to go back to his own bed. (It would seem that the strong and fierce Cleitus turned into a tame kitten whenever he was around Hephaistion.) In order to better watch over Hephaistion, I moved him closer to the fireplace. Since my bed was near the fireplace while his bed was against the window. So we moved Hephaistion's bed next to my bed and the rhythm of his calm breath lulled me to sleep that night.

The next morning, I awoke feeling his body lying next to mine. He seemed fine and not warmer than yesterday. In fact, during the night, he had snuggled closer to soak up the warmth from my body. In the small hours, the room would get colder when the fireplace had died. Holding Hephaestion in my arms felt so good. His hair and his skin were very soft and warm to my touch. Unfortunately, my gentle caresses didn't last long when I was interrupted by my friends' noisy racket outside in the hall. Hephaistion started to stir in his deep sleep, so I quickly let him go and put my blanket around him and sneaked out of the room.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

PS. Sorry for a short chapter, the next one will be longer I promise.  
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Chapter 3: The beginning of Friendship

While Hephaistion was still recovering from the lion wound, I was responsible for him catching up with Aristotle's lessons. Every day after class, I would bring food to our room and share my meal with Hephaistion instead of eating with other classmates. After we finished our dinner, I would give him a note and explain to him Aristotle's lesson of the day. He laughed every time I imitated Aristotle's speech pattern and the characteristic way he moved about in the classroom. I had a great time being Hephaistion's lecturer and we discussed many subjects. He would argue with me, when he thought I misunderstood Aristotle's point of view and we could debating for hours. We enjoyed ourselves very much. I quickly learned that when I never felt that I could speak freely with other people, it was much more different talking to Hephaistion. I found that I could trust him, now that talking was surprisingly easy since the ice had broken between us. And I wished to share everything with him.

On the sixth night after the hunting accident, I brought Hephaistion food as usual when I saw him awkwardly trying to use his right hand to write.

"What are you doing? I thought you were a left-hand writer!" I placed the tray with food on the little table we used for eating dinner and moved it closer to Hephaistion.

"Yes, you are right, but I thought I could practice writing using my right-hand in case I lose my left hand in a battle someday!" Hephaistion joked, and then looked at me directly in the eyes. "Can you help me, Alexander?" he suddenly asked very seriously.

"Anything, Hephaistion," I immediately responded. "What do you want me to do? Teach you how to write using your right hand?"

"No. Not at all." He smiled and continued, "I need to write a letter to my mother. I have not written to her in many days, of course, and she must be worried sick about me now that I haven't been able to assure her I'm doing fine. I cannot learn to write fluently with my right-hand in two days... so I need your help, Alexander."

"Of course, Hephaistion. Anything. I will write the letter for you. But will she not recognize that it isn't your hand writing? You should point out that I'm writing on your behalf and why - otherwise you will not convince her." I gathered the ink and scroll from him and climbed into his bed to sit next to him. This way, he would be able to see what I was going to write.

"Thank you, Alexander. Of course, I will tell her about what happened and also let her know how kind you are to take such good care of me while I've stayed in bed." He grinned and began dictating what he wanted me to write down. While I was writing his thoughts onto the scroll, I realized his talent with words. He was able to describe the situation of what had happened in a very exciting way and cleverly hiding the fact that he had gotten badly injured. Though, he did mention the wound, he took great care not letting it sound as dangerous as it actually was. After I finished his letter to his mother, he also asked me to write a letter to his father. After that night, he had asked me to help him write to his mother every day. He wished to tell her about what he learned on a daily basis and how much he missed attending class. The more of his letters that I wrote for him, the more I got to know Hephaistion. He was the most honest person I had ever met. What I saw is who he was. In addition to that, he had a gift to always look at matters in a positive way, and turn my world into pleasantness. He also taught me more of love and friendship in those few days than I had learned in my entire upbringing.

After a few weeks of recovery, Hephaistion was be able to return to school. He didn't have a hard time catching up, because of our thorough evening lessons and he was the most gifted boy in the class anyway. The difference now, however, being that he and I had become inseparable. We were always together. I cannot understand how I used to live without him being around me. The world surrounding me had changed with this newfound friendship. I started to see things and people in the different light. My mother's venomous letters could no longer blind me into seeing reality through her distorted eyes, but as sane, average people perceived it.

I had become happier and more open with my other friends. Even though I didn't share my every thoughts with them as I did with Hephaistion, I considered myself more open than before. Trust had now become a part of my newfound friendship. I began to realize that without teamwork and those who you can trust, it would be hard to achieve glory and reach your goals. Most importantly, I felt like I could accomplish anything if I had Hephaistion by my side.


End file.
